I crewed for the first Albuquerque Balloon Festival but missed the legendary 2nd. In that one, the shifting winds sent the 2 dozen or so balloons sailing over the Albuquerque Airport runways, effectively shutting down the airport. The closest landing field was on Site Able at the base of the Manzano Mountains where nuclear missiles were not-so-secretly buried in deep silos, waiting for the signal to fire. Heavily armed platoons surrounded each suspicious group as they landed, eventually dumping crew and balloon miles from anywhere outside the base perimeter.

61 balloons went up this morning on a perfect day at the Colorado Balloon Classic , all without a nuclear missile silo in sight.

The Balloon Crew’s Prayer

The winds have cursed us like a cyclone.
The sun has scorched and parched us.
We have chased our pilot
through Mother Earth’s maze and
God has laughed at us
as we have climbed barbed wire
to retrieve our Captain
in a field of thistles and ditches.